


Trust Fall

by Baneismydragon



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Angst, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Insecurities, Marichat, Mostly Just Pain, Trust Issues, not as much with the comfort, partial reveal, poor tortured catson
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-30
Updated: 2016-11-30
Packaged: 2018-09-03 09:11:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,136
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8706436
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Baneismydragon/pseuds/Baneismydragon
Summary: When Marinette decides to share her biggest secret with her closest friends, she had no idea that she was also revealing herself to her partner.Now Adrien must struggle with the fact that in spite of everything they have been through together, when his Lady needed someone to trust, she didn't choose him. (For thescuttlebugg's tumblr reveal prompt. Cross posted on tumblr)





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [thescuttlebugg](https://archiveofourown.org/users/thescuttlebugg/gifts).



> Based on this post on tumblr: http://thescuttlebugg.tumblr.com/post/153808751691/alright-ive-run-into-some-revealfic-that-has
> 
> I shouldn't read angsty reveal theories after a bad day, beacuse then I just write angsty reveal drabbles... 
> 
> ::Goes to cry in a corner and then work on my other stories::

The transformation faded away in a brilliant flash of pink light, revealing a very sheepish looking Marinette.

Adrien was sure that he had stopped breathing. There was no way… it couldn’t be…

“Oh my God…” Alya breathed beside him.

“Dude…” Nino added.

Adrien said nothing.

“So um… yeah… that’s my secret. Surprise?”

 

She had told them. She had given up the secret of her identity to her friends.

She had told Adrien, a classmate with whom she had held maybe a dozen actual conversations with. And while it made sense that anything Alya and Nino knew might as well be shared with Adrien or Marinette respectively because they would inevitably find out anyways, it didn’t change the fact that she had decided that she could tell something so monumental to her friends, but she still hadn’t told him.

She trusted a virtual stranger- a friend of a friend that she spends time with largely due to necessity- more than her own partner.

“You know this really does explain a lot,” Nino laughed, “I mean you had always been kinda clumsy and scattered, but this year you’ve just been all over the place. I guess saving the world will do that to you.”

“I can’t believe my best friend has been Ladybug this whole time! I mean… seriously how did I not figure it out!” Alya cried, crushing Marinette in a bear hug.

Adrien said nothing, still rooted in place, his entire visage the picture of perfect, docile calm.

“Adrien?” She asked nervously.

He turned to her with his most dazzling, model smile- not quite wide enough to show that one slightly crooked tooth, just enough curve of the lip to be warm instead of smug.

“You really are amazing Marinette.” He said sincerely.

She blushed, her eyes shining as she gave him a brilliant grin in return, and he could feel his heart breaking.

…

 

Of course with his luck there had been an akuma attack the very next morning.

He still hadn’t had time to come to grips with everything that had happened, but he had a job to do whether he was ready to face her or not.

There was no flirting, no puns. In fact he tried not to speak unless absolutely necessary. Instead he just waited for her to come up with a plan and followed instructions as they were given. He had a lot of practice being the perfect, obedient colleague after all.

For the first time, being Chat Noir felt like a burden.

He wondered if Ladybug would like him better this way.

Quiet, efficient, emotionally detached.

If he just threw in some narcissism and a healthy dose of arrogance he could look forward to turning into his father.

He barely made in through their customary fist bump before he turned and fled.

…

For once it was Plagg’s idea to sneak out. His cheese loving companion had been unprecedentedly supportive all day. Though as entertaining as watching Plagg attempt to play videogames by dancing on the buttons with his tiny pawed feet had been, it had done little to relieve Adrien of his melancholy.

The running helped. Maybe if he ran long enough and fast enough he could forget. He could escape the feeling of hurt, of abandonment, of inadequacy that had been eating away at him ever since he had seen that flash of brilliant pink light as she revealed her secret.

He could feel the tears he had been refusing to let fall welling up in his eyes again and he pushed harder. Leaping with a recklessness that would probably earn him a scathing lecture from Plagg when they got home.

Of course his luck betrayed him as well.

He leapt freestyle across a wide chasm and landed hard on his ankle, crying out in pain as he felt the muscles twist and give. He managed to activate his staff and propel himself to a nearby rooftop terrace, landing with a heavy crash on the small space, snarling in pain and frustration.

His suit would protect him from outside forces and major injuries, but self-inflicted injuries and bruises were par for the course. Most times he only needed to grin and bear it long enough for Ladybug to cast her all-encompassing cure and he would be right as rain. However there was no akuma this time, and seeing how he still needed to at least make it home before he could properly tend to the injury he would more than likely be walking with a limp the next day.

He swore loudly grabbing his throbbing ankle and wondering how his day could get any worse.

That was when he heard the sound of a skylight clicking open, and realized exactly whose balcony he had unwittingly landed on.

…

Marinette was shocked when she climbed up to find a whimpering, injured Chat Noir curled up on her balcony.

Her heart melted at the sight of him.

Her partner had been distant and aloof throughout the akuma battle that morning, and had clearly been upset over something though he made no attempt to talk to her about it. That in and of itself was unusual.

The fact that he was out running around the same night was also a sign that something was very wrong with her partner. He had confided to her before that he had a tendency to run through the empty streets when things got particularly rough in his personal life.

Her poor distraught kitty.

It was so rare to see him anything less than exuberantly cheerful, and she would have been lying if she said that she hadn’t been worried after he ran off after a halfhearted fist bump.

She put on her best smile. Her partner while never one to seek out the spotlight had always loved getting fawned over. Maybe some attention from a simpering fangirl would cheer him up.

“You’re hurt!” She cooed, batting her eyelashes and hurrying to his side, “Is there anything I can do for you? Chocolate? Cookies? It would be such an honor to take care of the bravest, most handsome hero of Paris!”

He shook her off and climbed unsteadily to his feet.

“Stop it, just… stop. Do you think I am an idiot?”

“What… what are you talking about?” Marinette tried, but she could see from the knowing look in his eyes and his scowl that the game was up.

“I know that you aren’t some star struck groupie so don’t waste your time pretending.”

His expression was so heart wrenchingly miserable, the picture of complete betrayal. Marinette felt tears welling up behind her eyes as shame clenched in her gut. She had never thought that it might be cruel to have her joke at her partner’s expense.

“I’m sorry,” she said quietly, “I just… I thought you would appreciate the attention.”

He scoffed rolling his eyes at her apology.

“You know Ladybug always talks about how much she hates liars, I think I finally see where she is coming from.”

Marinette started, sure she understood that his feelings were hurt but his reaction seemed a little harsh for some wounded pride. A sinking feeling came over her, like she was about to fall down a very dangerous rabbit hole.

But this was Chat. Chat her best friend (even if he didn’t know it). Her constantly cheery and relentless companion. She just needed to smooth things over.

“I’m not lying to you,” she said calmly, trying to sooth his bruised ego, and he raised his eyebrow incredulously. “Ok so maybe I was playing up the whole… hero worship thing, but it’s not like that.”

“What is it like then?”

“I care about you.”

He scoffed and again Marinette was taken aback. What was going on?

“Sure you do. What do you really have to care about here Mademoiselle? I’m just a stranger to you. Someone you hear about on the news who occasionally shows up when the akumas arrive to take a few hits and then disappears back into an oblivion where he belongs.”

“Shut up. Don’t say things like that,” she cried.

“Why not? Why would it even matter to you what I think?”

 _Because I’m your partner_ , she thought. But she couldn’t say that. He didn’t know. From his perspective she was just a random girl with whom he had interacted a few times. Even so she couldn’t bear to listen to his venomous self-loathing.

“Because I care about you!” She said instead, “We’re fr-“

He cut her off with a withering glare, his glowing green eyes narrowed with a steely intensity that shook her to the core.

“We aren’t friends.” He said coolly. There was no malice in his tone, but his ridged certainty was somehow worse. “Friends know each other. They trust each other. Can you honestly say that we do?”

“I trust you with my life…” She replied before she could stop herself.

He let out a humorless bark of laughter that was so unlike anything she had ever heard from him.

“We trust doctors with our lives, the police, our government... You trust the job, not me.”

“Chat, I-“

“Look it doesn’t matter.” He said gruffly, turning to face away from her. “Like I said, I am a stranger to you so it’s not like you owe me anything.”

Marinette ran forward and lightly grabbed him by the arm, terrified that he would run away.

She could feel the thick waves of tension in the air. She knew instinctively that something potent and fragile was on the verge of breaking. She didn’t know how, or why, but something had happened to push her poor dorky kitty past a breaking point she didn’t even know he had. The weight of that realization settled on her like an albatross around her neck.

“Chat I am worried about you,” she admitted, hoping that maybe honesty might calm him down a little.

“Don’t be, it’s not your job.”

“Well do you at least have someone you can talk to? A friend or a family member?”

“Superheroes don’t really get the luxury of a flourishing social life. Kinda goes hand in hand with the whole secret identity thing.”

“Then you should tell someone. I mean, I know that secrets are important, but you shouldn’t have to be alone. You should find someone you trust and-“

“Ladybug and I agreed a long time ago that it was best for everyone if our identities remained a secret, even from each other.” Chat said, still looking out into the darkened sky. “If I can’t even share that with my own partner, what right do I have to unburden myself on anyone else?”

Marinette felt herself flush with guilt. “Well… I mean… maybe it’s a different kind of trust. Maybe Ladybug isn’t who you need to share this with. After all you two are targets for Hawkmoth so it might be dangerous to share too much since you are always in his sights. Plus, I mean, being a superhero has got to have its drawbacks, real world consequences that you can’t just hide or gloss over forever. Like, I’m sure you must miss a lot of class with all the akuma attacks, and people are bound to notice. Maybe you need someone who is part of your regular life who can support you too. To help you keep your secret so that it doesn’t get out of control.”

He turned back towards her, his expression unreadable.

“Ladybug is my partner.” He said softly, “For whatever reason we’ve been thrown into this mess together and nothing will change that. We share the same risks, the same burdens. I work with her, I fight with her, I would die for her. What reason could I possibly have to trust someone else more than her?”

Marinette felt the knot of guilt inside her morph into a crashing wave. She was mortified at her own selfishness. It had been so much safer to tell her friends something that would only make them see her as better, more worthy. Maybe she hadn’t wanted to tell Chat Noir her real identity, to blur that line between the two sides of herself. Maybe she had liked the idea that Ladybug wouldn’t have to be tainted by the reality that was Marinette. But listening to him stoically refuse to even contemplate the notion of not putting their partnership first… she was only glad that her partner was unaware of her cowardice.

“Chat,” she began, reaching out to cradle his cheek and cringing when he flinched away from her touch. “Chat, there is something I need to tell you-“

“I have to go.” He said, limping over to the railing and pulling out his baton. “I’ll see you around princess.”

And without a backwards glance he sailed off into the night.

**Author's Note:**

> So there is my angst.  
> It was weird doing such angry, heart wrenching Marichat. Normally they are my fluff ship full of rainbows and butterflies and slow burn friends to makeouts...  
> Instead we have this...  
> I might do a follow up if the angst becomes too much but for now we end it on a note of pain and sorrow. 
> 
> Please comment or post pictures of cute things to combat the angst! 
> 
> Love to you all readers!


End file.
